We are scholars and teachers from across the disciplines who write to condemn the suspension from teaching of Professor Nadera Shalhoub Kevorkian, noted feminist and scholar  from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In your declaration that Professor Kevorkian’s condemnation of Israel for its genocidal actions in Gaza is “inciteful” and “creates division” and must be silenced in the interest of preventing “unnecessary tension” in the university, you betray the university’s most sacred mission to provide a space for critical thinking and open debate. In a time when a genocide is clearly unfolding in the Gaza strip, more than 30,000 Palestinians are dead, and thousands of others are dying from malnutrition and starvation, there is no more important time for teachers to speak out. Academic freedom includes the freedom to tell the truth about genocide.

Professor Kevorkian is a scholar of the highest repute who is known internationally for her path breaking research on Palestinian lives under occupation.  We can only hope that Professor Kevorkian’s words incite all to peace and to the end of the merciless killing of Palestinian men, women and children.

We call on the Hebrew University to reverse the suspension from teaching of Dr. Shalhoub Kevorkian and to issue an apology.